Lost memories
by Anotherunreliableauthor
Summary: Layla is another dauntless initiate and all she wants to do is pass. But first she has to solve why He was murdered and if He actually did what they said. All before the timer runs out. That should be simple enough right? Well apart from the fact that she has no idea who's timing...
1. The stone

**Disclaimer: I do not own divergent or any of its own characters but anything not Roth's material is of my own creation**

Jace can feel every single nerve in his body buzzing, every single neuron firing at rapid speed, every single blood cell pumping through his body. Tomorrow was his choosing ceremony and he had never felt this much adrenaline course through him. He wasn't sure if it was excitement or nervousness, probably both. He was broken out of his thoughts by his phone ringing. Leaping across the room, he swiped his phone as he lost his footing, consequently falling to the floor. "Hey, Aria!" he gasped.

"Are you okay Jace? It's just you sound a bit breathless."

Typical Aria he thought, always mothering him. "Absolutely tip-top!" He could feel her eyes rolling as she laughed at him down the phone

"Tip-top? What the fuck does that even mean?" she asked between laughs. He couldn't help the smile that took over his face "Anyway," he expertly changed the subject, "You didn't just call me to laugh at me so whats up?" He could detect the hint of anxiousness in her voice the minute she spoke; "Are you nervous about tomorrow?" Jace considered this for a moment then replied "Not at all. And neither should you be, we're destined for Candour Aria. Once we transfer, we'll finally be free of all the lies!"

"Yeah, you're right nothing to be worried about. Goodnight, Jace." The bleep that came signalled that she'd hung up. Jace frowned at the flatness of the last sentence. Putting it down to pre-choosing nerves, he got into bed and quickly fell asleep.

After Jace got over the unfairness of waking up before his alarm clock, he pulled on his clothes grimacing slightly at the all black look he was forced to sport. He shoved those thoughts aside as he made his way downstairs. The tension in the kitchen was palpable. Jace's heart wrenched as he saw his father's face, the disappointment radiating off him. Due to this Jace grabbed breakfast and sprinted out the door.

The grin on his face couldn't be dampened by anything he told himself, as he made his way to his seat next to Aria. "Hey," he whispered in her ear laughing when she jumped. "Not funny asshole," she snapped relaxing at the familiarity of their sibling like banter, "Ready to pick?"

"Can't wait to get out of this hell," he breathed so only she could hear him. The sight of Joanna was enough to make everyone fall silent. Jace zoned out when she launched into the same speech that is made every year. His attention was brought back to the stage when the calling of names began. His heart rate picked up as they neared the letter S.

"Sawyer, Jace"

Jace tried to stop his legs from trembling as he approached the platform. Just do it he old himself. He didn't register the pain when he made the cut on his hand. He held his head high as the blood dripped onto the glass in the bowl. Cheers rang out from the candour faction whilst some disappointed looks came from the dauntless side. Thoughts raced through his head whilst he searched for Aria in the sea of black. He heard her name ring out and all his focus was drawn to the girl he called a sister in all but blood. This is it he thought, the day they had been waiting for their entire lives: the day they started again. That's why it felt like a stab to the chest when he watched her blood hit the water. Aria couldn't have double crossed him. But she did. The uproar from erudite seemed to fade away as he watched Aria's back walk away from him. Within 3 minutes his life had been ripped from underneath him.

Jace let the crowd move his legs for him. A hand on his shoulders snapped him out of his reverie. "Hi, what's your name? I'm Charlotte," He stared back at her with the same stoic face. "Are you okay?" she asked. He nodded his head then turned away. He heard her sigh as she walked away but right now, he didn't care. Aria was gone and that's all he could focus on. Who knew a single person could mean so much?

"Wallowing in your thoughts will help precisely no one son."

A bowl of ice-cream was placed in front of him and without hesitation Jace began to devour it. He looked up to see who had spoken to him but no one was there.

Despite himself Jace laughed after initiation. It was a breeze! "So, you said your name was Charlotte." The girls head snapped up and Jace marvelled at how the light illuminated her face. "I did." She acknowledged "Are you going to tell me yours now?

"Jace."

"Well then it's nice to meet you Jace."

3 years passed and the girl who once meant so much to Jace had become a distant memory. Life was pretty good he mused. His life was good. At 19 he was the youngest ambassador at candour, the ambassador to amity no less! He had a gorgeous boyfriend, an amazingly smart best friend. Moving to candor had been the best decision of his life. Jace grimaced slightly when he thought of his choosing ceremony, of the betrayal he had felt. Then the door slammed open. The next five seconds seemed as if in slow motion. On the sixth life caught up. "You're under arrest on suspicion of the disappearance of Aria Jacobs!" Jace allowed himself to be taken to the cells, too stunned to do anything else. Under the effects of the truth serum, he was interrogated until he could answer no more questions. It felt like choosing all over again. Every time he got on his feet life pushed him to the floor again. When he stepped outside the realisation of what had been said hit him. They thought he had killed Aria. He swiftly made his way to his quarters.

The suspicion had followed Jace for decades and he was tired of it. Of the whispers, finger points, of it all. The pain of losing all that he loved in the space of a few days had taken its toll on him. He'd never quite got over the breakup of both his boyfriend and his best friend. Jace's life may be lonely but at least he had vices to fill the holes. Draining the bottle into his mouth, Jace kicked of his shoes and collapsed into bed.

The next morning came the announcement. "Jace Sawyer has been found dead in the Amity compound. Anyone with information should come forward now."

Tears ran down her face as she looked at him; the brave man she once knew was gone. The shard of glass reflected a small rainbow onto his blood-stained shirt. He would like that. He always had rainbows in his heart as a kid. Something small and shiny caught her eye as she knelt down. It was a USB, she made sure no one was looking and slipped it into her pocket. She took one last look a him. Her heels clicked as she walked away, the screams and sobs of his once friends could be heard throughout the compound- they were hideously fake.

She smiled sadly as she realised, he had been the last person to truly know her. She no longer had a family. Any trace of her was now gone, she was nothing but a myth.

Aria couldn't have been more wrong.

**Please feel free to review and leave comments on how I can improve the story. Thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter one

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of Roth's characters or material. Anything not recognisable as hers is mine**

**The war never happened**

**Will is alive, Al is not**

**No war/ hunt for divergent**

**4 years after Tris initiation (all OG characters are 20)**

Her eyes hurt. That was the first thing she thought as her brain tried to adjust to being awake. Layla slowly opened her eyes and glared at the offending sunlight seeping into her room. She dragged herself out of bed wincing slightly at the throbbing in her head. Maybe drinking last night hadn't been such a good idea after all. She made her way downstairs, her mouth-watering at the scent, to see her older sister making breakfast. Layla grinned at Charlotte who in turn rolled her eyes at Layla. "You know your rather calm considering it's your choosing today." Charlotte remarked.

"Well there has never been any doubt about where I was going to go so, I guess it feels like moving home than moving faction." Layla mused "I mean you were a transfer and look at you now!" Charlotte only smiled in response, her long blonde hair falling over her face as she shook her head at her adopted sibling. The nervous energy Layla was being consumed by was making it very hard to sit still. She fidgeted in her seat until Charlotte told her to go and she'd catch up.

The wind whipped her face as she ran. She slowed to a stop as she approached the ceremony hall, the building looked much scarier than normal. Usually, Layla was a confident loudmouth, she was in candor after all, but the shadow of the structure stole all of this away. Layla was always told she was going to dauntless in fact she thought that was exactly what she wanted, now the day was here, and she was no longer so sure.

Time flew by and then she was sitting in amongst the sea of black and white waiting for her name to be called. The hostility in the room could have been cut with a knife. Dauntless glared at erudite, Candor scowled at amity and abnegation avoided everyone's glances. Just a typical choosing ceremony. Jack Kang began to list the names cheers and groans rang out when someone transferred. Finally, her name was called:

"Kessler, Layla."

Everything else seemed to fade away except for the bowls in front of her face. She barely registered the gaps when she held her hand over the glass. Suddenly something stirred inside of her and her hand jerked. The sizzle dragged her back to what was in front of her. Jack gave her a small smile as he announced "Dauntless!" Layla held her head high when she walked over and took her place next to the other transfers.

When the ceremony was over everyone started moving at once, Layla being one of the first transfers to start moving. Despite her hesitation when the sound of feet hitting concrete rang out, she knew there was nowhere else she'd rather be. Her feet flew as she effortlessly caught up with some of the members and dauntless born at the front. They stared for a second but then returned to their conversations. It wasn't until the train started coming around the corner that Layla realised why they had run to the tracks. Black clothed spots on the far end of the platform began to jump onto the train. A crazed look appeared on some of the transfers faces but she knew she couldn't afford to be surprised. Being surprised got you killed. Gritting her teeth, she took, a few steps back launching herself at top speed through the train door.

Layla had braced herself to hit the hard floor of a train, not a soft body. A few sideways glances were thrown at the two of them. "Fuck me!" came from underneath her "You trying to kill me already?" Layla slowly pushed herself up of the boy underneath her. She glanced at the body on the floor for a second. "I'd say I'm sorry but it's not my fault you got in the way," She answered. Finally, being able to get a good look at the boy who had broken her fall. His clothes gave away the fact he was amity- probably why he hadn't had a comeback she thought. Amity were notoriously bad at insults. The bursts of light from the train doors showed the disbelief on his face. She couldn't help but laugh at him then. A frown briefly crossed his face before he extended a hand "Ajax." Layla took his hand but said nothing. They held this for a couple seconds before Ajax's face broke out into a grin. "I like you."

"What?"

"I like you," he repeated "Even if you won't tell me your name. Imma call you silence." Layla smirked "I was going to say you could call me Layla but silence is good too." Both of feeling relaxed in their dynamic almost didn't notice the platform until someone started yelling. "Are. Are they jumping?" The confusion in Ajax's voice was clear. However, Layla's mind had slipped back into focus mode. Concentrating on her breathing again she stepped back. She began to run towards the door; out of the corner of her eye she saw Ajax hesitating to her left. She mentally sighed grabbing his hand on her way pass her momentum dragging him along whether he wanted it or not.

She groaned as she sat up. Then she started cursing at Ajax. "Why the fuck didn't you jump! What is wrong with you?!" He stood there taking it until he was bored.

"I'd say sorry but it's not my fault you dragged me along," he sniped, a triumphant look crossing his face as she glared daggers at him. "Alright!" boomed a voice "If you're quite done the rest of us would like to get started." Layla stared at the man in front of her, slowly taking him in. His muscles rippled under his shirt as he breathed. As her eyes travelled up, she zoned in on the bars on his neck. She had, once again, stopped listening to the man talking focusing just on his tattoos, his hair, his eyes. Hold up. Her sense pricked up as her purple eyes met steel grey ones. He quirked his eyebrow at her as she held her gaze steady. Her stubborn streak allowing her to meet his cool gaze with her own scorching one. "See something you like initiate?" Another voice rang out and suddenly all eyes were on her. The man broke their eye contact with a smirk on his face. "Are you talking to me or the 17 other initiates staring at what they hope to be their future faction?" she retorted "Because personally I'm finding the top of this building very attractive." A willowy girl to her left laughed. His face folding into a frown the shorter of the two men started to speak again. "Well then I'm sure you'll be even more thrilled by what's at the bottom."

"Damn you must really hate me," Layla sighed faking disappointment "I thought I would be here for at least a day before someone told me to kill myself. Ah well." She started towards the ledge making sure to keep her mask of calmness up. Layla threw one last challenging look at the grey eyed man before turning around to face the man who had first addressed her. "If I'm going down I might as well go down in style." Then she threw herself off the edge in an arc kicking her legs above her head- she backflipped off the top. She was silent as she went down, even if she wished to speak the rush stole her breath. Layla was surprised when she made contact with the net at the bottom of the fall. Voices sounded to her right so she rolled towards them until her feet hit the ground. She was met with a hand which she shook. "My name's Lauren," the smiling person before her said "What's yours first jumper?" Layla opened her mouth then shut it again. "Layla" she answered hesitantly, expecting the same negative reaction she always got to her name. This time however Lauren congratulated her after shouting "First jumper LAYLA!" The hesitance melting away Layla went to stand with a group of dauntless. "Second jumper HECTOR!" A lanky tan boy walked up to her with a wide grin. "You sure you aren't dauntless born?"  
Layla's face hardened as she spat "Positive." Annoyingly he didn't seem to care about her sudden change in moods at all which she noted was really fucking infuriating. Instead he walked up to the girl who had laughed on the roof and pulled her over to them "Tina this is Layla. The queen of sass!" Confusion clouded Layla's face. "Oh my god," Tina exclaimed "She doesn't know was sass is!" "Right Initiates," the tan man from the roof said, "My name is four and I am one of your instructors." All 18 faces started at him when he paused. He let out a breath of what seemed to be relief before he continued "Dauntless born will train with Lynn and Lauren whereas transfers will train with me and Eric." Fours voice faded slightly but only in Layla's ears. The grey eyed man entered again; the darkness of the room made his blonde hair brighter somehow. She felt a tug on her elbow. Turning she was met with Ajax studying her face. She stuck her tongue out and his chocolate eyes lit up.

They followed the other transfers to the dorm rooms. The first thing the stuck out to Layla was that there was only one room. "Is this boys or girls?" a reedy looking boy piped up. Eric let out an amused laugh as he said "Both, problem?" The reedy boy shook his head violently. Four rolled his eyes "You can all make yourselves at home here. You will find a change of clothes for sleeping in the drawers. We will explain the points system tomorrow." After they left the room everyone just kind of stood there. However, Layla always had been impatient. She grabbed a ladder and threw herself onto one of the top bunks "Well I call top bunk." Ajax swung his stuff onto the bunk underneath hers muttering about being to heavy for the top.

Layla took this time to study the other transfers more closely. There was her and Ajax on one bunk then around 9 other transfers. Small groups were already forming in the room she noticed. A couple erudite, an amity and someone from her old faction (Damien) had grouped together. Damien caught her eye, giving her a wolfish grin, he winked at her. She quickly tore her eyes away due to the fact that she knew the by was bad news. "Do you want to go get some food and meet the dauntless borns?" The question floated up from underneath her. Layla considered this. Then she hopped down from her bunk. "We'll go later, we're talking to some people here first."

Ajax looked her up and down. "Okay then bossy," He teased "How about her?" He pointed at a girl with short blonde hair and large blue eyes. She jumped up as they walked over. Waving, Layla introduced herself. The short blonde grinned as she replied "Of course I know who you are. Everyone did at home and everyone does here. I'm Spark." Suddenly, it clicked where Layla had seen her before; around the candour compound. Layla muttered curses about being dragged places as she was… dragged to the cafeteria. Despite being short Spark had a lot of energy and a strong grip. They talked the night away, generally staying as a group of three. Their mission to meet dauntless born foiled by that fact that they were eating with family.

When Layla eventually climbed the ladder to go to bed most of the other initiates were already asleep. Layla fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow. Unfortunately, she didn't fall asleep peacefully as the minute she closed her eyes the nightmares began.

**So, I know I said that I would try to update weekly, but I got super ill. Everything I wrote was awful. From now on I will try to update weekly because I'm all better. Please feel free to review as improvements are always wanted!**


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